Opinions of the Judicial Ethics
Advisory Committee

Practice of Law


Canons
Fla. Code Jud. Conduct, Canon 5A A judge shall conduct all extra-judicial activities so that they do not cast reasonable doubt on the judge’s capacity to act impartially as a judge; demean the judicial office; or interfere with the proper performance of judicial duties.
Fla. Code Jud. Conduct, Canon 5E A judge shall not serve as executor, administrator, or other personal representative, trustee, guardian, attorney in fact or other fiduciary, except for the estate, trust or person of a member of the judge’s family; and then only if the service will not interfere with the proper performance of judicial duties.
Fla. Code Jud. Conduct, Canon 5G A judge shall not practice law; but a judge may act pro se and may, without compensation, give legal advice to and draft or review legal documents for a member of the judge’s family.
Opinions
Matters Prior to Becoming a Judge
JEAC Opinion Number
Subject

Judge and judge’s former law partner may maintain a partnership account after the judge assumes office as long as the account is solely for the purposes of winding up partnership business; the partnership is formally dissolved; the account is closed within a reasonable time; and the judge and the partner perform no professional services after the judge assumes office.  5D; 5D(3); and 5G.

Judge who formerly prosecuted a murder case as an assistant state attorney may discuss the defendant’s motion to vacate with the current assistant state attorney so long as the judge scrupulously avoids advising or assisting in the conduct of the litigation and limits his or her discussion to factual matters.  5G

Judge may not be interviewed by lawyers or their clients regarding the decision of an arbitration panel on which the judge served prior to becoming a judge because judge would be continuing to act as an arbitrator, in direct violation of Canon 5F.  Further, such participation would lend the prestige of judicial office to the proceeding.  2B, 5F.

Judge may maintain certification as a Circuit Court Mediator provided that judge does not actually serve as a mediator except for training purposes.  5F.
Child support hearing officer may continue to represent indigent prisoners who have filed post-conviction relief motions in the circuit in which the officer presides because neither the State Attorney’s nor the Attorney General’s Office—the officer’s adversaries in criminal proceedings—are involved in child support enforcement in the relevant circuit.  No canons cited.
Newly appointed judge may not sign a title insurance policy after taking bench even though effective date of policy is before the judge assumed the bench because signing the policy constitutes the practice of law. However, the judge may receive payment for any work done on the title insurance policy prior to assuming the bench. 5G.
Newly appointed judge may change status of professional association under which judge practiced law to another legal entity in order to continue owning a building that housed the judge’s law practice. 5D(2).
Even though professional association under which newly appointed judge practiced law may need to generate future tax documents or other legal filings in the future, judge must change status of professional association or dissolve it prior to assuming the bench. Also, while the operating account of the former professional association may remain open after the judge takes the bench to accept payments for work done prior to the judge’s assuming the bench, the account should reflect the association’s new status. 5.
A newly-appointed judge may not discuss the pending cases of former clients with the clients’ new attorneys, even if such attorneys are former law partners of the judge, except as to matters that would not constitute the practice of law. 5A, 5E, and 5G.
New judge could not keep trust account open for disbursement of funds he was still receiving in connection with private practice matters because doing so would involve representing clients and retaining his business name, both violations of Canon 5(G)’s prohibition against the practice of law by judges. 5(G) and 5(E)(1).
Part-time child support hearing officer may practice law in same circuit and same county in which he or she presides subject to the limitations set forth in Op. 2002-03. No Canons cited.
Child support hearing officer sitting in limited basis in one county of a four-county circuit may continue to handle civil litigation matters in the circuit provided he or she follows the limitations set forth in Op. 2002-03. No Canons cited.
Pro bono part-time family law hearing officers may continue to practice law in the same circuit in which they serve as hearing officers, provided that they do not handle any family law cases or other matters that so overlap with family law as give rise to conflicts of interest with regularity. No Canons cited.
No provision in Code prevents a newly-elected judge from handling cases in the local trial courts prior to the time the judge-elect takes the bench. No Canons cited.
Part-time traffic magistrate who presides over traffic court in one county may not represent clients charged with traffic-related felonies in either the county in which the magistrate presides or the adjoining county in the same circuit, even though those felonies are filed in circuit court. Canon Application A(2).
Part-time juvenile dependency officers assigned to one or more counties within a circuit may not represent criminal defendants or litigants in family law cases not involving dependency in any county or circuit court of that circuit. 2 and 3.
Part-time traffic magistrates may continue to handle cases other than traffic matters and appeals of traffic matters, even in the circuit in which they preside. No Canons cited.
Part-time child support hearing officers may not handle matters involving probate, guardianship or mental health in the circuit in which they preside. Also, any associate in the hearing officers’ law firms would likewise be prohibited from such practice. 3A and Application.
Guardianships
Judge may not serve as a trustee or executor for a long-term friend even where the friend is an out-of-state resident, the trust and estate will be outside of Florida, and it is highly unlikely that any legal proceedings would occur in Florida.  5E(1).
Judge may not serve as a guardian of the person for a child who is not a family member. 5E(1).
Work on Behalf of Family
Retired judge not subject to recall for judicial service is entitled to practice law to the same extent as any other attorney provided judge is a member in good standing of The Florida Bar. This practice may include representing himself or herself and his or her spouse in a trial or appeal. 5G and Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.030.
Judge’s ex-wife, former father-in-law, and former father-in-law’s spouse do not qualify as “family” under the Code of Judicial Conduct; consequently, the judge could not serve as a trustee for a trust set up for the benefit of the former father-in-law’s spouse, even though the remainder might one day pass to the judge’s children. 5E(1)
First cousin of judge’s spouse is not a "member of the family” such that judge could prepare probate documents and advise the cousin, who was serving as a personal representative of the estate of the spouse’s aunt. 5(A)(3) and 5(G).
Judge may serve as trustee of property devised to judge and his or her spouse as a life estate because the property is being held in trust for the benefit of the judge and a “member of the family” as defined in the Code. 5E(1).
Mediation and Arbitration
Senior judge wishing to begin private mediation practice may not advertise services, even if such advertisements will be directed to non-lawyers only and will not state that the senior judge ever served as a judge.  Canon 5F(2) prohibits such advertising regardless of whether it is directed at attorneys or laypersons.  5F(2) and Commentary.

Judge may not be interviewed by lawyers or their clients regarding the decision of an arbitration panel on which the judge served prior to becoming a judge because judge would be continuing to act as an arbitrator, in direct violation of Canon 5F.  Further, such participation would lend the prestige of judicial office to the proceeding.  2B, 5F.

Judge may maintain certification as a Circuit Court Mediator provided that judge does not actually serve as a mediator except for training purposes.  5F.